Jason F.
Yelp
Located on the first floor in the Financial District in San Francisco's Financial District within the ultra luxurious Palace Hotel, Pied Piper San Francisco is no ordinary hotel restaurant and bar. Upon entry to the hotel, one will easily note the overall ornateness and historical value of the venue, from their atrium dining area that connects to their lobby to the long hallways that contain many historical artifacts from the 1906 earthquake and when The Palace Hotel reopened in 1909 following that same earthquake. One of the most significant pieces of artwork in all of San Francisco actually resides at The Palace Hotel. The "Pied Piper of Hamelin" is a mural that covers almost an entire wall of the bar area, and was commissioned from artist Maxfield Parrish that was inspired by the legendary tale where the Pied Piper leads the citizens of Hamelin, Germany out of town. Residing in the hotel for over one hundred years, with Parrish himself standing in for the Pied Piper in his historical painting, leaving its perch for only three times, the last being in 2013 for a much needed restoration. But enough of the history, what about the overall experience? The reason why we came on a brisk Friday evening was because for the first time, in quite some time, Pied Piper was participating in San Francisco Restaurant Week in the Fall of 2021. During this ten day event, local purveyors of food are able to offer a pre-fix meal so curious customers can get a real sense of their menu. And this type of meal allowed us to get a first hand experience of not only the Pied Piper but The Palace Hotel as well, as both alert their fans that they were fully open and taking in customers.
Once you enter their bar area one of their servers lets you know that you can either sit in the bar area, where it is a little darker, or their main dining room, where it is open seating with multiple sofas and cushioned chairs with coffee tables around fireplaces, and multiple four-top tables lined up along both side of the walls. One of the main reasons that we selected Pied Piper for our meal was that they offered up a lot of solid options for their three-course pre-fix dinner. I decided to order their Grilled Fennel and Soppressata Flatbread topped with smoked mozzarella and goat cheese crumble for my appetizer, while my dining mate selected the other option they were offering for their first course, their Edamame Ricotta Hummus served with fall crudités and fry bread. For our entrees, I selected the Maxfield's Crispy Fried Chicken Breast served with a side of winter squash and sautéed spinach, while my dining mate selected the other entrée they were offering for their pre-fixe meal, their Tempura Petrale Sole and Shrimp served with a side of shallot parsley and a grain mustard caper tartar sauce. And for our dessert course we each selected their Chocolate Caramel Sponge Cake. Our meal was delivered in due time, as we waited, our servers made sure to refill our water glasses at every turn as we took in the sports that were playing on two huge screens within their main dining room.
I really enjoyed my flat bread pizzas, as it was savory without being overloaded with toppings, while my dining mate's hummus was decent as she loved the fry bread as it was so huge she was able to cut it into multiple pieces so we could both enjoy the dip. My fried chicken was solid, if a somewhat unremarkable overall dish, as it wasn't as crispy as one would have hoped, while my dining mate's entrée was basically a glorified fried fish, shrimp and chips combo meal. Although our dessert was beautifully plated, the cake eventually turned out a little drier than I hoped it would be. But overall, even with our food being somewhat unremarkable, what cannot be denied is that our service and overall feeling of the interior of Pied Piper San Francisco cannot be beat when it comes to intimate hotel bars as their team always made us feel welcome replacing our silverware and over attentiveness. And looking at the regular menu prices, I am so glad that they decided to participate in this year's restaurant week promotion, as the prices were significantly reduced thanks to this pre-fix menu deal because as we all know a hotel bar's menu can be a little pricey from time to time and Pied Piper San Francisco is no exception. But where else can you take in a little history with exhibits and get a great cocktail, not many places in San Francisco, so I'll be playing that tune any time I am invited for another visit to the Pied Piper in the historic Palace Hotel.